


The End of the World as We Know It

by unfolded73



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Ten II/Rose implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 20:39:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1072814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfolded73/pseuds/unfolded73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A surprise visitor from the altverse shows up in the middle of an apocalypse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End of the World as We Know It

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published 09 July 2008, only a few days after Journey's End aired.

Jack Harkness had been through more ends of the world than he could count by now, so he knew a really good, universe-destroying apocalypse from the more run-of-the-mill kind. Still, the trappings were often the same, and usually involved fighting with woefully inadequate weapons against a well-armoured species. This particular task was what occupied him at the moment. He hid behind a bunker, waiting for his plasma gun to recharge, wondering whether they would find him first, and if they did, how much dying would hurt this time. He had seen a lot of people die at the hands of the invaders today, and if he was honest, it looked particularly painful. He hoped he wouldn’t have to go through it more than once, twice at the most.

Finally, his gun beeped and he turned and aimed over the bunker, preparing to make one more stand. It was at that moment that he was blinded by a bright, electrical flash. Opening his eyes, he watched as six people in black fatigues mowed down the invading forces in front of him with what did not appear to be woefully inadequate weapons. In fact, they were quite good weapons. Jack was jealous.

When the deafening roar of their guns stopped and the smoke started to clear, Jack stood up and approached the group. “Thanks for saving my ass. Now who are you?” he asked them.

A short woman with dark hair pulled into a severe ponytail peered up at him. “We could ask you the same, as it is your ass that we just saved.”

He smiled at her. “Captain Jack Harkness.”

As soon as the name had left his lips, a tall, lanky youth of about twenty elbowed his way to the front of the group. He was dressed like the rest, all in black with a yellow device strapped to his chest, a pack on his back, and holding an enormous gun. His pale face was freckled, his hair brown and unruly. The eyes that stared in shock at Jack were large and brown. “Did you say Captain Jack? Jack Harkness?” When Jack nodded, he laughed, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. “Holy hell, it’s good to meet you!” The boy held out a hand which Jack accepted. “You’re my namesake. I’m Jack Tyler. Rose Tyler’s son.”

 

*** 

 

“It’s the same as it was twenty-five years ago,” Jack Tyler was saying as the captain led them back to base camp. “Our universe runs ahead of yours, and we saw this coming. Walls between universes start to weaken, yada yada, we can get through and help you stop it.”

“How’s your mother?” Jack Harkness asked.

“Good. She heads up Torchwood now, which means she’s my boss too, and don’t you know she doesn’t let me forget that for a minute.”

“And your father? Who, may I say, you are the spitting image of.”

Jack Tyler rolled his eyes. “Everyone says that. He’s, you know, he’s Dad.”

“Actually, I don’t know. I barely even met him.”

“But you know the other one. The other Doctor.”

Jack Harkness eyed him as they walked. “How much do you know about that?”

“A fair amount, I guess. I know that Mum used to travel with him, that they were in love, that they got separated for several years. That she came back to this universe and helped stop the Daleks, and in the process my dad got … created or whatever, from the original Doctor’s hand. And from Donna Noble. I know that the original Doctor gave Mum up so that she could live out a normal life span with my father.”

Jack Harkness chuckled. “Yeah, I’d say you know a fair amount.”

“Mum and Dad wanted us to know about him. They always told us stories about their adventures, and I guess they could’ve told it like it happened to the two of them, simple as that, I mean, my dad has the memories as if it had all happened to him. But they didn’t do that. They made it clear that there was this other man, this other Doctor, who was over here, saving the world.” 

“That’s so Rose,” Jack Harkness said, smiling warmly. “So, are you ready to meet him?”

“Who?”

“The Doctor, of course. He’s back at the base camp, or he was last time I checked.” Jack tapped his ear. “This is Jack. Mickey, do you read?”

“Loud and clear, boss. What’s the situation?”

“Quiet, for the moment. Is the Doctor still there?”

Mickey laughed. “Much to my constant annoyance, yeah. You need to talk to him?”

“No, just don’t let him go anywhere. We’ve got visitors from the parallel world.”

There was a pause. “Rose?” asked Mickey.

“No. Rose’s son.”

 

*** 

 

“So you’re Mickey Smith,” Jack Tyler said as he shook the other man’s hand. “Mum told me a lot about you.” Mickey was an older man, probably in his fifties, with a smattering of grey hair. For his age he appeared to be in remarkably good shape, with the look of a life-long soldier.

“Uh-oh,” Mickey said, laughing. “I shudder to think what she said. But listen, don’t go back home before I’ve told you a few stories. I knew your mum since she was baby. I’ve got some frankly humiliating tales about Rose Tyler.”

Jack grinned. “I can’t wait.” It was at that moment that he looked up and locked eyes with his father.

Or, not his father, he corrected himself quickly. The other Doctor. He didn’t look much like his father anyway, not anymore. They couldn’t pinpoint his dad’s age exactly, for how did you know how old someone was who was in some ways nine hundred, in other ways newly born? He and Rose had settled on thirty-five as an age for him and had been counting up from there. Which made his father sixty now, and he looked it, his hair entirely grey, his face lined with wrinkles. The Time Lord that Jack was staring at now didn’t look a day over forty-five. It was like looking at a childhood photo album brought to life.

“Hi,” Jack said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

The Doctor approached him and stood staring at him for a moment. “You look like your mother,” he said, his voice thin.

“Really? Everyone says I look like my Dad.”

The Doctor seemed to shake himself out of reverie, suddenly in motion. “Well, that’s a bit harder for me to judge, obviously. But you have her eyes. So, Jack Tyler! And make sure you thank your parents for that, Captain Jack’ll never let us hear the end of it. Still, bet you never thought you’d meet me, eh?”

“Mum always told us that if we met you, it probably meant the end of the universe wasn’t too far off. Which, unfortunately …” he said, gesturing around at the camp. 

“Right. Wait, you said us? You have siblings?”

“Two sisters. I have an older sister, Donna. She’s twenty-one. I’m nineteen. Then I have a younger sister, Sarah. She’s sixteen.”

The Doctor smiled fondly. “Good names.”

“After Donna Noble, Jack Harkness, and Sarah Jane Smith, legendary companions to the Doctor,” Jack recited. “They never let us forget.”

“Quite right too.” The Doctor cleared his throat. “What’s she doing now, your mum?”

“Leading Torchwood. Keeping us all in line. Saving the world in time to get home and make us dinner. You know,” Jack said, shrugging. “Donna is a grad student in astrophysics; she’ll probably have her Ph.D. by twenty-three. Sarah is going to be a medical doctor; she’s half-way done with university already. Dad says he’s a little sorry he didn’t name her Martha, given her career aspirations. We all went through school quickly,” he said, tapping his temple. “Part Time Lord, you know. Smarter than the average bear.”

“And what do _you_ do, Jack?”

“Finished my degree in engineering this year. Now I’m working for Torchwood, figuring out how better to beat the bad guys,” he said, hefting his gun. The Doctor flinched. “Yeah, Mum said you’d hate that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before I left, she said, ‘If you meet the Doctor, don’t tell him you build weapons, he’ll hate it.’ ” Jack shrugged again, his attitude nonchalant. “Oh well, guess I let it slip.”

“Is that all she said?” the Doctor asked, searching Jack’s face.

Jack rolled his eyes. “No, she said a bunch of sappy stuff about how I should tell you she owes you so much, and that she wouldn’t have her kids if it weren’t for what you did, and then she was crying and hugging me and telling me to be careful, so I don’t think there was anything else of substance.” 

Having run out of things to say, Jack stood awkwardly next to the Doctor. His colleagues from the parallel world were conferring at a large table with Mickey and Captain Jack and some others. Things were grim now, perhaps, but they would work it out. Together, the people in this room would save the universe.

“So,” said Jack, “is the TARDIS here?”

“Where else would it be?”

Jack Tyler grinned his widest grin, the one that he was starting to learn was a surefire way toward melting the hardest hearts and making women swoon. “Can I see it?”

 

*** 

 

“Whaddaya think?”

Jack looked around at the console room. “It’s exactly like they described, and yet … I don’t know, I would’ve thought I’d be prepared for it, but … I’m still gobsmacked, I guess.”

The Doctor stood still while Jack explored. He couldn’t take his eyes off this boy. This boy who was, when looked at a certain way, his own son, but in the most important ways, not. This boy who was a living reminder of everything he gave up.

“Did they get married?”

“Who?”

“Your parents.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. The way they tell it, they tried to elope, but Grandma wouldn’t hear of it. Threw this huge wedding, invited half of London. Mum and Dad escaped from the reception after half an hour and jumped a zeppelin for Katmandu. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that story, Grandma still doesn’t let them forget it.”

The Doctor laughed. “That sounds like Jackie.”

“They’ve got their twenty-fifth anniversary next year, and Donna thinks we should throw them this big party. I said, we do that, they’ll be off to Katmandu again.”

“Maybe they’d enjoy being off to Katmandu again,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Jack said as he examined the time rotor. “You travelling with anyone now?”

“They’re out there with Captain Jack and the others. A man named Paul and a woman named Ellen.”

Jack nodded distractedly. “It must be fantastic.” He looked at the Doctor. “Mum was my age, right? When she started travelling with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Wish I could. I mean, I’d never leave my family, not with no way to get back to my own universe, but … you’re so lucky,” Jack said, circling the console again.

“It’s your father who’s the lucky one.”

“He always missed it though, the TARDIS. I imagine he still does. If there was anything that made their relationship hard, it was that. Well, that’s what Donna says anyway, and I defer to her when it comes to that kind of stuff.”

“We should probably get back out there,” the Doctor said.

“Right, you’re right. Thanks for showing it to me. It’s like … well, it’s like Mum said. Without you, without this ship, I wouldn’t exist. So, you know, thanks,” Jack said, blushing.

The Doctor smiled. “You’re welcome, Jack Tyler.” He patted the young man on the back. “Now, let’s go save the universe.”


End file.
